What changed
1 fix2 additions1 change1 removal
- UI and audio
- Balance
- Server
- Gameplay
changedI know "Q1 2026" is a bit of a stretch as it's already mid-May. But it was a busy few months: finishing off last year's big features, getting the codebase into shape with a round of spring cleaning, and — finally — laying the technical groundwork for the long-awaited UI Refresh. Read on for the full breakdown and make sure to check the heads-up about upcoming visual changes before you do.
removedA Heads-Up: Temporary Design Inconsistencies IncomingIf you've been playing for a while, you'll know the game currently offers a "classic" color theme alongside the light and dark one. And while it has a special place in my heart (and likely many others): the classic theme is effectively deprecated at this point and will eventually be removed as part of the UI Refresh, in favour of what's become the standard these days — a proper light and dark mode according to the operating system's setting, with an option for users to override it.
addedA Heads-Up: Temporary Design Inconsistencies IncomingBeyond that, as I start rolling out the first gen-3 components in the coming weeks (more on that in the UI Refresh section below), you may notice the occasional visual inconsistency here and there — like parts of the (new) page frame not quite matching the look and feel of (existing) content. This is expected and temporary. I intend to do the migration in an incremental fashion rather than one big risky switch, so there will be a transition period. The classic theme will likely be particularly affected as I won't spend resources on doing adjustments specific to that theme.
fixedLocation-Based Demand (LBD) — Refinements & Ongoing BalancingComing back from the winter break, my first order of business was tidying up the Location-Based Demand feature that I had rushed out just before Christmas. As a first visible step ( week 2 ), I adjusted the ground network tab of airport info pages to show connected locations rather than other airports, and updated airport maps to display those locations as catchment area hotspots. I also took a deep dive into the location clustering algorithm — the piece of code that reduces hundreds of thousands of real-world locations down to a manageable set — and fixed a number of edge cases that were producing obviously wrong results, like airports on islands with no connected locations at all. Island handling in particular remains unsolved for now and is earmarked as its own roadmap item .
addedLocation-Based Demand (LBD) — Refinements & Ongoing BalancingIn week 4 and week 6 , I dug deeper into why LBD behaves unexpectedly when combined with Individual Travel Requests — the combination I eventually want to use as the default in all new game worlds. Two key challenges stand out: tourism-heavy destinations generate far too little demand because the current model is purely population-based, and cargo is spread so thinly across destinations that it's nearly impossible to make it work. I've been investigating both issues together with the volunteer data team, but I don't expect a quick fix. LBD remains limited to Wright for the time being.
AirlineSim changes
changedI know "Q1 2026" is a bit of a stretch as it's already mid-May. But it was a busy few months: finishing off last year's big features, getting the codebase into shape with a round of spring cleaning, and — finally — laying the technical groundwork for the long-awaited UI Refresh. Read on for the full breakdown and make sure to check the heads-up about upcoming visual changes before you do.
removedIf you've been playing for a while, you'll know the game currently offers a "classic" color theme alongside the light and dark one. And while it has a special place in my heart (and likely many others): the classic theme is effectively deprecated at this point and will eventually be removed as part of the UI Refresh, in favour of what's become the standard these days — a proper light and dark mode according to the operating system's setting, with an option for users to override it.
addedBeyond that, as I start rolling out the first gen-3 components in the coming weeks (more on that in the UI Refresh section below), you may notice the occasional visual inconsistency here and there — like parts of the (new) page frame not quite matching the look and feel of (existing) content. This is expected and temporary. I intend to do the migration in an incremental fashion rather than one big risky switch, so there will be a transition period. The classic theme will likely be particularly affected as I won't spend resources on doing adjustments specific to that theme.
fixedComing back from the winter break, my first order of business was tidying up the Location-Based Demand feature that I had rushed out just before Christmas. As a first visible step ( week 2 ), I adjusted the ground network tab of airport info pages to show connected locations rather than other airports, and updated airport maps to display those locations as catchment area hotspots. I also took a deep dive into the location clustering algorithm — the piece of code that reduces hundreds of thousands of real-world locations down to a manageable set — and fixed a number of edge cases that were producing obviously wrong results, like airports on islands with no connected locations at all. Island handling in particular remains unsolved for now and is earmarked as its own roadmap item .
addedIn week 4 and week 6 , I dug deeper into why LBD behaves unexpectedly when combined with Individual Travel Requests — the combination I eventually want to use as the default in all new game worlds. Two key challenges stand out: tourism-heavy destinations generate far too little demand because the current model is purely population-based, and cargo is spread so thinly across destinations that it's nearly impossible to make it work. I've been investigating both issues together with the volunteer data team, but I don't expect a quick fix. LBD remains limited to Wright for the time being.
I know "Q1 2026" is a bit of a stretch as it's already mid-May. But it was a busy few months: finishing off last year's big features, getting the codebase into shape with a round of spring cleaning, and — finally — laying the technical groundwork for the long-awaited UI Refresh. Read on for the full breakdown and make sure to check the heads-up about upcoming visual changes before you do.
A Heads-Up: Temporary Design Inconsistencies Incoming
If you've been playing for a while, you'll know the game currently offers a "classic" color theme alongside the light and dark one. And while it has a special place in my heart (and likely many others): the classic theme is effectively deprecated at this point and will eventually be removed as part of the UI Refresh, in favour of what's become the standard these days — a proper light and dark mode according to the operating system's setting, with an option for users to override it.
Beyond that, as I start rolling out the first gen-3 components in the coming weeks (more on that in the UI Refresh section below), you may notice the occasional visual inconsistency here and there — like parts of the (new) page frame not quite matching the look and feel of (existing) content. This is expected and temporary. I intend to do the migration in an incremental fashion rather than one big risky switch, so there will be a transition period. The classic theme will likely be particularly affected as I won't spend resources on doing adjustments specific to that theme.
I wanted to flag this upfront rather than have anyone think something is broken. Thanks a lot for your understanding!
Location-Based Demand (LBD) — Refinements & Ongoing Balancing
Coming back from the winter break, my first order of business was tidying up the Location-Based Demand feature that I had rushed out just before Christmas. As a first visible step (week 2), I adjusted the ground network tab of airport info pages to show connected locations rather than other airports, and updated airport maps to display those locations as catchment area hotspots. I also took a deep dive into the location clustering algorithm — the piece of code that reduces hundreds of thousands of real-world locations down to a manageable set — and fixed a number of edge cases that were producing obviously wrong results, like airports on islands with no connected locations at all. Island handling in particular remains unsolved for now and is earmarked as its own roadmap item.
In week 4 and week 6, I dug deeper into why LBD behaves unexpectedly when combined with Individual Travel Requests — the combination I eventually want to use as the default in all new game worlds. Two key challenges stand out: tourism-heavy destinations generate far too little demand because the current model is purely population-based, and cargo is spread so thinly across destinations that it's nearly impossible to make it work. I've been investigating both issues together with the volunteer data team, but I don't expect a quick fix. LBD remains limited to Wright for the time being.
Individual Travel Requests (ITRs) — Nearing Production Readiness
The first weeks of Q1 were also about ticking off the final remaining items on the ITR to-do list. One of the trickier ones (week 6) was updating the rating displays for service profiles and cabin configurations — tricky because the old ORS and ITRs compute ratings quite differently, but both need to keep working in parallel depending on the game
